Vision Quest in Posthumanist Education: Focuses, Praxes and Experiences

ABSTRACT

In the context of Posthuman Studies, attention towards education is gaining increasing significance to address the anthropocentric axioms embedded in contemporary worldviews. What is posthumanist education? This paper addresses this question affirming the importance of embodying posthumanist theory in practice. Attention will be dedicated to three original keywords: selves-care; flex(st)ability; commUnity. They will be investigated as possible posthumanist focuses to respond to current educational needs. This paper is not purely theoretical; it is anchored in material experiences that are being explored by posthuman communities worldwide. We will reflect, more specifically, on the Posthuman Summer Camp, a collaborative event organized by the Italian Posthuman Network (Italy, August 10–13 2023). In this essay, the realities and possibilities that emerged during the first edition of the Camp are embraced as embodied and embedded, experiential and experimental – clearly, existential – praxes, enlightening our vision quest on posthumanist education.

KEYWORDS:

• Posthumanism
• theories
• praxis
• pedagogies
• education

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Joanna Pascoe for her precious Presence and Vision before, during and after the Camp, including the editing of this article. David Edward Rose for his Guidance and Direction during its development.

Thanks to Roberto Marchesini for his generous sharing of Space and Vision, allowing for the manifestation of a uniquely creative environment at Naturama; thanks to Sabrina Golfetto for the Care and Kindness. We would like to thank the other Organizers of the Posthuman Summer Camp (in alphabetic order): Manuela Macelloni and Orsola Rignani. Thanks to the in-person Participants and Auditors: Mitra A., Elisa B., Cinzia Barillaro, Uma Bono, Selene Citron, Natan Andrea Feltrin, Giulia Girodo, Eszter H., Carlos L., Luca Lunardi, Chiara Montalti, Melissa Ingaruca Moreno, Valentina Romanzi, Eleonora Vecchi, Cosetta Veronese.

Thanks to the online Speakers and the Co-Organizers of the Global Posthuman Network: Başak Ağın, Afaq Amin, Debashish Banerji, Giacomo Colomba, Sayan Dey, Mafe Izaguirre, Jonathan Kay, Kevin LaGrandeur, Qurratulaen Liaqat, Shabnam Naderi, Yunus Tuncel, Nikoleta Zampaki and Peggy Karpouzou. We would like to thank all the Posthuman Scholars who are particularly active and inspirational in the praxis of the posthuman educational wave, in particular, Rosi Braidotti. Thanks to the Members of the Global Posthuman Network, of the Indian Posthumanism Network, Red Latino-Americana de Posthumanismo, Rete Italiana Postumana, Pakistan Critical Posthuman Studies Association, NY Posthuman Research Group, Turkey Posthuman Associations, and All the People and Communities working worldwide on posthumanist ways of education.

This article generates out of the Visions, Works and Insights of Us All: Thanks!

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Disclaimer: Passages of this article are based on Francesca Ferrando’s book The Art of Being Posthuman (Polity: Cambridge, 2023). In this paper, co-written by Francesca Ferrando and Stefano Rozzoni, the reflection on posthumanism and education expands through the pedagogical experience of the Posthuman Summer Camp (Italy, August 10–13 2023), organized by, in alphabetical order: Francesca Ferrando, Manuela Macelloni, Roberto Marchesini, Orsola Rignani and Stefano Rozzoni.

2. For a further discussion on these topics, in the context of current scholarship on posthumanism and education, see for instance Kuby, Spector, and Thiel (2019), Snaza et al. (2014), Strom and Martin (2022).

3. These topics have been discussed in several works, including Hickey-Moody (2016), Latour (2013).

4. In regard to neoliberalism in academia, see Braidotti (2019), among others.

5. An invitation to re-envision traditional teaching and research habits from a posthumanist lens is found in Daigle (2023).

6. This topic has been developed by Roberto Marchesini through the concept of ‘sentimental education’ (2017; 2023).

7. As Sorgner puts it, acknowledging the long-standing cultural association of otium and related activities, including education, with class privilege, is relevant to remember that: ‘it is an enormous privilege to be able to go to school, a privilege which one must not take for granted’ (Sorgner 2022, 102).

8. Otium (leisure) and negotium (labor) represent the terms of a dichotomy perceived in Latin culture, between leisure time (otium) – including studying as a practice of self-care – and labor (negotium), resulting in productivity and, possibly, business. This echoes the dichotomy between vita activa and vita contemplativa (see note 13).

9. See the study of the Environmental Protection Agency offered in Klepeis et al. (2021).

10. On these topics, one can consider, for instance, the phenomenon known as ‘nature deficit disorder’ illustrated by journalist Richard Louv (2005).

11. In relation to a posthumanist discussion on subjectivity, the Vitruvian Man has been approached critically by Braidotti (2013; 2019).

12. Among others, see Francesca Ferrando’s posthumanist critical discussion on the Scala Naturae (Great Chain of Being) (2019).

13. See Arendt (1958).

14. At Naturama, there are over seven hectares of land with 2.000 trees of diverse varieties: elms, hornbeams, alders, oaks, birches, willows, sweetgums and olive trees. This is the home of a variety of domestic animals, such as chickens and ducks, as well as wildlife (the object of study of the SIUA is human-nonhuman interactions). The variety of possible locations allowed the organization to schedule parallel workshops during the Posthuman Summer Camp.

15. Regarding food, with a preference for vegan options, attention was raised to balance organic products from general stores to non-organic ones from local agricultural businesses.

16. English: ‘Art reveals itself (and should be acknowledged) as relationality, inter/intra-action, more-than-representation, terrain/interception of agency (human and other), dynamic of new forms of subjectivation and objectivation’. Translation by the authors of this article.

17. In the words of the Oxford English Dictionary, a camp represents, in common modern use, ‘the collection of tents, huts, and other equipment [it] is the chief notion, the site being the “camping-ground”’ OED (2023).

18. See https://rosibraidotti.com/summer-school

19. See https://metabody.eu/metahuman-lab-lesvos-2023/

20. See https://brocku.ca/pri/2023/08/15/posthumanist-entanglements-a-summer-camp-june-25-29-2024/

21. Beyond the summer programs illustrated in the previous paragraph, one can also consider the investigations conducted in the context of research centers such as: the Graduate Program for Posthuman Studies at Ewha University, South Korea; the Plymouth Institute of Education’s Posthuman Research Group, United States; the Posthumanism and Education Emerging Researchers’ Group, the European Educational Research Association, Germany; the Centre for Research in Posthumanities at Bankura University, India; the Posthuman Studies Centre, University of Lodz, Poland.

22. See Spikins et al. (2019), among others.

23. See Gilligan 1982, Irigaray (1993) and Ferrando (2020), among others.

24. See, for instance, Whyte and Cuomo (2016).

25. In a similar way, Don Lorenzo Milani, Italian religious educator and social reformer, embraced the motto ‘I care’ to challenge fascist systems of organized violence in early 20th-century Italy. More recently, Nel Noddings has explored care as a moral imperative in pedagogy, establishing relationality as ontologically fundamental to humanity: ‘Caring involves stepping out of one’s personal frame of reference into the other’s’ (Noddings 1984, 24).

26. This quote, and a further discussion on this topic, is found in Foucault (1984) (English translation: 1986).

27. This quote is taken from Foucault 1986, 53.

28. For a further discussion on the notion of interbeing, see Thích Nhâ^'t Hạnh (1987).

29. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (EU), for instance, views flexibility as an opportunity to address the needs of individuals who may interrupt their educational path to resume it later. Research shows that people facing barriers to learning, or students who have had to interrupt their education, may benefit from an extended period to complete their studies. See: https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/vet-toolkit-tackling-early-leaving/intervention-approaches/flexible-education-and-training-systems

30. See Nicoll (2006), among others.

31. See Heffernan and Wilkinson (2022), among others.

32. See Anwar and Graham (2022), among others.

33. This notion points to ‘both absence and presence, killing and nurturing, living and dying – and remembering of who lives and who dies and how in the string figures of natural cultural history’ (Haraway 2016, 28).

34. Learners can benefit from points of focus in their explorations.

35. Real freedom relies on self-knowledge; it cannot arise from unawareness.

36. See Louv (2005), among others.

37. English: ‘With posthumanism, wonder returns to philosophy; wonder for the world of now, for its biodiversity, both human and non-human, for the creativity of life, for what we encounter at the threshold. Posthumanism also means new friendships. It would be a shame not to share wonder and friendship with the new generations’ (translation by the authors of this article).

38. As she notes, ‘the category companion species helps me refuse human exceptionalism without invoking posthumanism. Companion species engage in complex interactions where the definition of who belongs in or to the world is formed through intra-action’ (Haraway 2016, 13).

39. See Viveiros de Castro (1998), among others.

40. As Braidotti states: ‘the proper subject of the posthuman convergence is not “Man”, but a new collective subject, a “we-are-(all)-in-this-together-but-we-are-not-one-and-the-same” kind of subject’ (Braidotti 2019, 44). Ferrando has defined it, in ontological terms, as a pluralistic monism or a monistic pluralism (2019, chapter 29).

41. A discussion on this topic has been offered by Ferrando and Banerji (2023).

42. This expression refers to Donna Haraway’s eponymous book, 2016.

43. English: ‘A posthumanist pedagogical approach considers the development of a sentimental education alongside the reference to core values as fundamental. The growth of one’s feelings and desires based not on the existential solipsism of the individual, but on their relational capacity, is crucial. In this sense, it is also a priority for the individual to grow in a non-anthropocentric sense, allowing them to cultivate tendencies of alliance with the living universe’ (translation by the authors of this article).